Man wielding fake gun shot by police

An Edgard man was shot twice by a St. John Parish Deputy after charging at police with a fake gun.

The incident occurred Wednesday, just before 6:00 p.m. in the 100 block of John Pierre Street in Edgard.

Police say that officers responded to a 911 call of a disturbance. The caller told operators that 49-year-old Kirk Bovie pushed her niece to the ground, punched the caller in the face and broke a window on her trailer. She also stated that Bovie was smoking illegal drugs.

When police arrived, Bovie ran into the woods. After searching for around 20 minutes, deputies located Bovie in a sugar cane field. Deputies noticed that Bovie was carrying what looked like a handgun. After ignoring the deputies' requests to drop the weapon, Bovie charged at one of the officers and grabbed his gun. Once Bovie grabbed the deputy's gun, the officer fired two shots, hitting Bovie in the leg.

Investigators learned that Bovie's gun was an air soft pistol with the orange tip removed. The tip symbolizes that the gun not an actual firearm. Bovie, who remained conscious, was transported to University Hospital to receive treatment for his injuries. No other injuries were reported.

As part of standard procedure, Deputy Arthur Ponder, who was the deputy involved in the shooting, was given a leave of absence until the investigation wraps up.

Once Bovie is released from the hospital, he will be arrested and booked accordingly.